[wbp]

Boy, talk about a delayed response… I uploaded a copy of the “baseball template” file here:

http://www.meier-phelps.com/eggbot/Baseball%20Template.svg

There are several layers:

1 & 2 are text from one of the baseballs I did, to show the alignment, etc. Modify, add graphics, etc to suit your needs.

8 – registration dots, handy for a quick check of the alignment. The 4 circles are drawn by the Eggbot as a single dot.

9 – safe area: should correspond to the area just inside the stitching on your baseball

10 – stitching: I started with this – adjust the size until it matches the stitching on your baseball. It doesn’t have to be perfect.

You could probably just skip layer 10 and just use 9 to get the alignment right, then go from there…

William

[wbp]

I am so glad you posted this – I thought I was going crazy! I was *sure* I had put the long end in the square hole, but when I looked at which side was round, it was facing the wrong way and did not match the picture in your most excellent instructions.  (how about posting a note in the online instructions?)

[wbp]

I also found the light pattern from the LEDs to be a bit wide, and in some cases diffuse.  The folks at EMS tell me they are 20 degree (viewing angle) LEDs.

I poked around a bit and found some 15 degree Cree LED’s on Mouser that I like.  I ordered a small quantity to try and I think the pattern from these is nicer and more focused.  I’ve ordered enough to replace all the LED’s in my clock.  It will be interesting to see how it looks once I’ve made the switch.

If you’re interested, here are the Mouser part numbers:  

Blue: C503B-BAN-CY0C0462  $0.14 each

Green: C503B-GAN-CB0F0792  $0.19 each

Red: C503B-RAN-CY0B0AA2  $0.23 each

William

[wbp]

If anyone is interested in printing on baseballs, I’ve created a template for this.  It’s for standard league approved hard ball baseballs, but it could be easily adjusted to fit any ball with stitched seams.  The template has an outline of the area within the stitching and some dots for registration and alignment of the ball in the Eggbot.

William

[wbp]

Ah, so I’m not crazy after all. Phew!

[wbp]

To remove the middle sections of the straight lines, I used “Edit Path by Nodes” to add 2 nodes to each line, lining them up with the edges of the oval (hold Ctrl to constrain to horizontal).  Then click on the resulting middle line segment and click on “Delete segment between two non-endpoint nodes”.  It may not be the simplest method, but it works…

[wbp]

Interesting. Exactly what I tried, but with very different results. Inkscape 0.48, in case that matters.

I held Shift and clicked on each of the 4 horizontal lines, then clicked on Path, Combine.  Then clicked on the oval, and clicked on Path, Cut Path.  The first line is cut where it hits the oval.  That’s all.

[wbp]

I had meant to raise only one issue, that of how to do this. It was not my intent to criticize Inkscape, only ask how to do this.  I actually like Inkscape, it’s just taking a while to sort out how to use it.

I tried your first method, and it works great for the spiral lines, but not so great for the straight lines.  I’ll work on it a bit and see if I can figure out how to do that.

Thanks!
William

[wbp]

Yep. That’s the point – there is no tool in Inkscape to simply cut one path with another.  At least not that I can find.  For example, start with the traditional1 pattern.  Create oval for the area you want to put the text in.  How do you get Inkscape to remove the lines where the oval is?

[wbp]

I have seen other logic where the date/time was checked as you say, “when the date arrives … we adjust the RTC…”.  That works great if the clock is running during this event, but not so great when someone builds a clock and powers it up (or powers it back up after some time) and the transition to DST has already occurred.  The original DST code for Adafruit’s Ice Tube clock worked this way.  This is why I decided to rewrite the DST logic so it can be called at any time, and then check for DST transitions once a minute.  It could also be done when the clock is booted, but doing it this way has the advantage that one can play around with the date and time settings and see the clock adjust itself…

The GPS has the advantage that it works without any configuration at all, and pretty much anywhere (assuming it can get signal).  As for cost, the Ultimate GPS is less money than the IMP and it’s adapter, so I don’t see that as an advantage either…

I’m glad you are happy with the IMP, it does look like an interesting device, but for my money (and time) it’s not the right choice for this application.

[wbp]

“evilandy” – That’s quite a project, a lot more than I think I’d ever need!

I’m not sure I get your point about auto DST though – it sounds like you are saying there is some relationship between having the GPS signal and adjusting the time for DST.  The two are independent.  The clock keeps time reasonably well without the GPS, but you have to set it and once in a while adjust it.  Adding the GPS module means the clock sets itself – all you have to do is set your time zone.  Are you trying to compute DST time changes based on the GPS coordinates?

I thought about getting the time from the ‘net using a wifi adapter, but the Ultimate GPS works so well, and it doesn’t have to be configured with SSID, password, etc.

William

[wbp]

I decided to use the upper right dot, at least as a temporary indicator.  Easier than figuring out how to start/stop the blinking colon, but I do like that idea the best as it give and immediate and continuous indication that the clock’s time is accurate.

The upper right dot is turned on when the clock’s time & date are updated, then turned off again the next time a valid GPRMC message is received; usually this is about 1 second later.  The code is designed such that it tries to do the GPS update at the beginning of each minute if it can.  If the GPS is working properly, you should see a the LED come on at the top of each minute, then go off again 1 second later.

William

[wbp]

Outstanding project! You spec power usage at under 100 W, but no KwH data. Any ideas? Wondering if this would be a good replacement for the fridge in my camping trailer.

I’ve got some experience doing AVR/PIC controlled heating.

William

[wbp]

The “Ultimate GPS” module is incredibly sensitive. In my 1 story wood frame house, there is no location where it will not pick enough signal to set the clock.  I would guess that in an apartment building it would have to be near a window though.  Another approach is to put the GPS receiver in a separate box, and use a pair of radios to link the two.  I’ve done this with Zigbee’s and it’s pretty easy.

I’ve thought about using a WiFly and syncing with a time server over the ‘net, but the GPS receiver is a lot less effort, all you have to do is parse the GPRMC message and you’ve got accurate time and date.

I’d like to add an indication that the time has been set from the GPS.  One thought I had was to blink the colon differently depending on if a GPS update had been received within some period of time.  Maybe alternate the dots if no signal, or only blink if the clock has been synced within the past n minutes.  Any thoughts?

William

[wbp]

I just received an A5 from Adafruit a couple of days ago; it came with version 1 firmware.  If you want to install new firmware, be sure you read the instructions about changing the baud rate (in the Sanguino boards.txt file), since the v1 bootloader runs at a lower speed.

To replace the bootloader, I used a USB Tiny, which worked perfectly.

William

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